Zrubavel: Ethiopian-Israeli Film to Premiere in New York

The first Israeli film by a team of Ethiopian Israelis. Itzhak, soon to be a bar mitzvah, dreams of becoming the Spike Lee of Israel and films a documentary about the neighborhood’s residents. He comes from an Ethiopian immigrant family led by his grandfather Gita. Gita, a janitor, insists on sending his son to a pretentious school despite the principal’s refusal to accept the boy. His dream is that his son will become an Israeli Air Force pilot, even though another son was killed while serving in the Israeli Defense Forces. The daughter is romantically involved with a distant relative in violation of Ethiopian tradition, and another son becomes religious. A chain of events ignites a clash of generations – the Ethiopian traditions cherished by Gita and his wife, and the younger generation’s desire to assimilate to Israeli life.

Followed by Q & A with director Shmuel Beru,
performance with Ethiopian artist, Meskie Shibru-Sivan,
and Opening Night Reception.

Presented in cooperation with Be’chol Lashon and Bina Cultural Foundation, Inc.
Please RSVP to NewYork@BecholLashon.org or via phone at 212-217-0178

11 Responses to “Zrubavel: Ethiopian-Israeli Film to Premiere in New York”

I am the Director of Programming for the American Sephardi Federation. You have listed our Opening Night film, ZRUBAVEL. Thank you so much. I would also ask if you can put a link to our website where full information is available: http://www.americansephardifederation.org.

Also, Shmuel Beru, the filmmaker will be with us at the Opening. And, we will have a live performance by Meskie Shibru-Sivan. I believe that both of them are well known in the Ethiopian community.

There several films by Ethiopians and about Ethiopia that have been produced in recent times. Unfortunately, they are not easily available. Could Tadias arrange to publish them on video so that the public can buy them? There is a large customer base in the Diaspora as well as at home. It could be a reasonably profitable for the producers and Tadias to make them available to a large audience.

i would be interested in a video of Zrubavel it is showing in this area detroit ,but too far away,also in canada. 30 miles either way from me.i would like to give a copy to some of my grand children who want to know about their greatgrandfather,s people ,he is the one in this family who started the mix marriage ,he married a irish women.now all are trying to get the feel of where it all started.

Abay Movies would like to stream this Video and also other interesting movies that are based on Life in Israel for Ethiopian Jews. We are working hard to get some movies for our customers from Israel. Check us out at http://www.abaymovies.com

If you have movies to stream and generate some revenue for yourself, please cantact us at theabaygroup@gmail.com